Published: February
14, 2018'Highbridge
Library must be saved from closure' - former MP Tessa Munt

Former
MP Tessa Munt has this week hit out at Somerset County Council's
plans to close Highbridge Library.

The
former Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge MP says the town's library
in Market Street is a "vital service that must not be allowed
to close."

She
told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "Given that the County Council's Cabinet
has this week decided to save Highbridge Children's Centre from
closure based on local need, surely the same criteria must apply
to Highbridge Library and it must now be retained because of local
need."

"In
addition to being an essential facility for local people, the computers
at the library are especially vital, given that they are the only
method of applying for jobs, housing and universal credit,"
she said.

"Local
people in the town should not have to travel to Burnham or Bridgwater
libraries to use a computer."

She
also says Somerset County Council's libraries consultation document
is also 'unfriendly and inaccessible'.

"The
full consultation documents are huge - in total, it's almost 65,000
words long, which at normal reading speeds will take the average
person nine hours to read. The
information is in a very unfriendly format which for such an important
issue is ridicious."

Last
week, Burnham-On-Sea.com reported that a new campaign group called
Save Highbridge
Library was launched in a bid to try and halt the closure plans.